


undercut

by TheSpaceCoyote



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [12]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Broken Bones, Denial of Feelings, Force Choking, Hurt No Comfort, Injured Hux, M/M, Major Character Injury, Torture, snoke is a bastard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 13:17:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18032447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpaceCoyote/pseuds/TheSpaceCoyote
Summary: Kylo didn't realize that his Master would react to his and Hux's relationship with this degree of cruelty.





	undercut

**Author's Note:**

> I've been stewing on this idea since starting on this Bingo Challenge so I'm happy I finally got it out! And I'm largely pleased with the result. 
> 
> Obviously...not canon compliant, haha. 
> 
> For the prompt "Forced to Beg."

Kylo thought his relationship with Hux would never become an issue.

He presumed that the general understood the parameters of their relationship—if one could even call what they had a _relationship_. Kylo certainly didn’t think of it as such. After all, they detested each other outside of the bedroom, more than any functional couple could possibly deal with. Things were best left as they were, and neither of them had ever bothered to question it.

Kylo thought that his Master would understand that—that Hux wasn’t a distraction or a _weakness_ , no. The general wasn’t nearly important enough to post that kind of threat to Kylo’s countenance.

His relations with Hux were mere entertainment, a means of stress relief when Kylo’s emotions were wound so tight they risked a catastrophic break. Hux wasn’t pulling him back to the light—the general was mired in darkness, in a lust for power, just as Kylo was. They were using one another. Aside from that, it meant nothing.

Kylo thought, if Snoke ever found out, he would at most admonish him. Perhaps require an explanation for his actions and his interest in Hux, then insist he refocus upon his training.

Kylo didn’t think his Master would do this.

Hux floats in the air, arms stretched out at his sides as if he were suspended by his wrists, elbows, and shoulders. He keeps his neck rigid and teeth set on edge but Kylo can see the terror in his eyes, his entire body locked in preparation for whatever punishment Snoke plans to lay upon him.

Kylo kneels, Hux’s body the only thing between himself and Snoke’s throne, his compliance extorted from him. He watches both the general and his Master carefully, trying to calm his racing mind so he can understand what may happen next.

He can sense Snoke’s displeasure. It curls around the entire throne room like a nest of snakes, the Force coiled near Kylo’s ankles and undulating about Hux’s helpless body.

The general—to his credit—tries to keep calm in the face of the insurmountable strength holding him in its grasp. It’s strange for Kylo to see a Force-null retain some scrap of composure, especially in the face of a sovereign like Snoke. Almost as if Hux has anticipated that this may be his end, used to suffering at the hands of those with innate power over him.

Snoke moves Hux like a puppet, in full control of his entire body as he wrenches his arms behind and above him like he’s hung in strappado. Hux coughs his pain, joints in his shoulders stretched beyond their usual range as he’s levitated further off the ground.

“S-Supreme Leader—“ Hux ekes out, before screaming in agony as invisible might twists his wrist the wrong way. Kylo hears it crack, his lungs hurting as if the shards of Hux’s bones have penetrated there instead.

The throne room echoes with the general’s cries, even as they degenerate into breathless sobbing. Hux’s head lolls to the side, pale face reddened with exertion as he struggles to pant through the pain. His hair falls over his forehead, disturbed from its usual slicked style, looking as he did whenever Kylo pinned him against the wall in his quarters, amused as he mussed Hux’s locks with his hand.

“Strange…” Snoke’s warped voice trickles down Kylo’s spine slowly, like an unctuous trail of blood. “That the Master of Ren would have such a reaction to the suffering of some insignificant officer.”

Kylo tries to keep his expression wiped of emotion, wondering if that’s what Snoke wants, for him to remain impassive in the face of such cruelty, to keep his mind a boundless pool free of disturbance. He stills his trembling lip, trying to keep his eyes dry as they linger on Hux’s body, away from his face.

But then a voice reaches out to him—a droplet in his insurmountable depths, scraped up from a throat already hoarse from screaming.

“R-Ren…p-pl—”

Snoke sharply lifts his hand, tearing Hux’s arms up as he claps his ankles together and pulls them downwards. The sudden tension snaps at Hux’s shoulders, the resultant _pop_ drowned out by the general’s agonized shout. Kylo can’t stop himself from looking Hux in the eyes this time, finding the usual intelligent green thin and rheumy.

 _“Silence_ , cur,” Snoke hisses, movements of his hand growing more violent as he vaults Hux forward, until he’s floating closer to Kylo, hung limp over him in accusation.

The Force suddenly grows insatiable, pulling at Hux’s body like a rabid animal as it shoves his head forward and wrenches his dislocated arms even higher above him. His collar rips, exposing his chest in a mockery of Kylo’s memory, those fond moments when he pulls down the zipper of Hux’s uniform to drink in his milky skin and soft pink nipples. Kylo favored that part of Hux most of all, lavishing attention on his chest before he moved onto Hux’s lower regions. He enjoyed nibbling along the soft flesh, leaving marks he knew the general would feel with every step, every moment his clothing rubbed against his skin.

Kylo’s heart aches at the loss of that memory—it’s been irreparably perverted now, the man he only knew in the quiet intimacy of their quarters rent open and exposed thanks to his Master’s cruel punishment.

He watches in silent horror as Snoke forces Hux’s chin up and back, exposing the bare flesh of his throat. His pulse throbs, desperately pumping blood as an unseen hand curls around his neck.

Hux gasps—his broken, useless fingers twitching in an abortive effort to clutch at his windpipe as pressure starts to clench around it. Kylo’s own heartbeat screams in his ears as Snoke holds Hux’s fate in hand, willing to break the tenuous hold the general has on his life. 

Kylo—who has seen so _many_ perish before his eyes, killed most of them himself— feels he might disintegrate into the void if he bears witness to Hux’s death.

His stomach twists, sickness brimming up in his throat. His composure threatens to crumble with each second of Hux’s torture, as Snoke hangs him above the swallow of death, delaying it for some wicked reason Kylo can’t comprehend. He feels numb, stricken by his own helplessness.

But when he sees Hux’s face begin to purple from suffocation, his throat crushing slowly in the grip of the Force, he can’t bear it any longer.

“ _Please_ ,” Kylo rasps, using the voice he’s worried escaped him, “Master. I beg you.”

Tears flood to his eyes, properly flowing for the first time in _so long_. He swallows, shame rushing over him as he deigns to plead for Hux’s life.

“Don’t hurt him.”

It’s a foolish thing to say—Hux is already hurt, body pulled out of sorts and horribly broken, but Kylo doesn’t know what else to do, unsure of what else his Master wants from him other than to unearth a deep, galling agony inside of him.

Snoke’s desiccated mouth pulls in a grimace of disdain, boundlessly dark eyes fixed upon his apprentice. Kylo trembles at the scrutiny, the silence in the throne room broken only by Hux’s soft whimpers and—underlying it all— the inaudible, cogitating hum of the Force.

Kylo wonders if his Master going to kill Hux in front of him despite his plea, rip the life from the general’s body and leave him to weep over a twisted corpse. But to his surprise Snoke folds his long fingers back into a fist, abruptly releasing Hux from his hold.

The general falls hard upon the floor, skull resounding against the sleek black durasteel. If not for the weak groan that slips from Hux’s cracked lips, Kylo would believe him dead, last wisp of life snuffed out by the impact.

Hux doesn’t move, even now that he’s been let free of Snoke’s grasp, only laying splayed out upon the floor and shaking from his torment. His coat fans about him like a shroud, hiding the evidence of his suffering in a small mercy.

Kylo could rush over to his side. He could hold Hux in his arms, keep his touch gentle as he took stock of the general’s injuries. He could summon his saber to his hand and cut Snoke’s vile head from his shoulders, sever both of their ruinous ties in one fell stroke.

But he does nothing but sit upon the floor, hands curled into fists, pathetic tears crawling down his face as he stares at Hux’s broken body.

“You will end this extraneous engagement at once,” Snoke commands with a wave of his hand. “It’s made you both weak. Men of your status shouldn’t abide such frivolities.”

Kylo bows his head, sobs shuddering through his body as his gaze drops from where Hux still lies, desecrated and groaning upon the floor, to his own reflection in the guileless black.

His Master is right. He _is_ weak _._

Above him Snoke instructs his guard towards Hux, two of them quick to pull him up off the ground. He struggles to stand on his own feet, whimpers of pain falling from his lips as they manhandle his damaged shoulders.

“See that the general gets the medical attention he needs,” Snoke drones, settling back into the seat of his throne. “His injuries will not cause any unnecessary delays.”

Kylo’s breath quickens as the guards drag Hux past him, and he lifts his head to try to catch his eyes, to beg forgiveness for his failure and seek some last shred of acknowledgement in the general’s face—but Hux’s gone too quickly, whisked from the throne room and leaving only Kylo to deal with the dark, hopeless hole now festering inside him.

**Author's Note:**

> I know I hurt Hux too much, I'll try to give Kylo a taste of it eventually. Though hey, this was an emotional hurt for him at least!
> 
> Hit me up on [Tumblr](http://thethespacecoyote.tumblr.com) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/heir_of_breath7/).


End file.
